June 14, 2006

Germany 1, Poland 0: For 90+ minutes, as hooligans from the two countries fought with the police outside the stadium, Poland battled the heavily-favored Germans evenly, thwarting wave after wave of attack, even after they were forced to play down a man over the final 25 minutes. Just when it seemed that a tie might be assured, less than a minute after two point-blank shots ricocheted off the goal post, Oliver Neuville deflected in a crossing pass in injury time to give the host country the win, and an almost-certain berth in the second round. The Poles, bereft of the kindness of a merciful and just god, will now likely go home, having once again failed to beat their rivals to the west.